Removable dental bridge



June 29 A1926.

C. GISSKEA REMOVABLE DENTAL BRIDGE Filed sept. `22, 1924 Patented June29, 1926.

UNITED STATES CARL GISSKE, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

REMOVABLE DENTAL BRIDGE.

Application led September 22, 1924. Seriali No. 739,139.

My inventionrelates to improvements in dental bridge work whereby one ormore false teeth may be removably mounted be tween two spaced teeth tooccupy the space and take the place of teeth extracted from a personsmouth.

The primary object ot my invention is to provide an improved dentalbridge.

Another object of my invention is to provide a bridge which may bereadily inserted and removed from the mouth to facilitate the cleansingof the teeth and bridge.

A further object is to provide an improved bridge which may be appliedwithout injury to the teeth between which it is secured.

A still further object is to provide an improved device of the characterdescribed which can be readily litted and applied to the mouth and whichis retained in position without permanent connections secured to theteeth and without imparting undue pressure against the sides of theteeth.

I accomplish these and other objects by means of the device disclosed inthe drawings forming a. part of the present specification wherein likecharacters of reference are used to designate similar parts throughoutsaid specification and drawings and in which, ff. i

Fig. 1 is an enlarged side elevation show ing the manner in which thebridge and teeth are mounted between spaced teeth.

F ig. 2 is a similar view, the bridge being shown in section.

Fig. 3 is a tifansverse section taken upon the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation showing the manner in which the lower plateis applied lo span the space between the teeth.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation showing the manner in which the upper plateis applied in connection with the lower plate sections, the teeth to becarried by such upper plate being omitted.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail showing the manner in which an end of theupper plate engages and is retainedl by the adjacent end ot' the lowerplate section. c

Fig. 7 is a broken plan view of the interlocking means.

Referring to the drawings' the numeral l is used to designate inrgeneral a portion of a persons jaw having natural teeth 2 and 3separated by a space resulting from the extraction of one or moreintervening teeth.

In order to till the intervening space and toireplace the extractedteeth I provide a bridge consisting of a lower plate formed in twosections 4 and 6 shaped to conform to the gum between the teeth 2 and 3and having their opposite ends shaped to contorni to the lower portionsof the adjacent teeth. One of the sections, as 4, is provided with anextension 7 having a retaining bar 8 formed thereon, said extension andbar being adapted to engage and interlock with a corresponding groove 9and recess 10 iormed in the adjacent end of theopposite l section 6.Notches.l 11 are formedupon the inner sides of the ends of the sectionsadiacent the teeth 2 and 3.

An upper plate designated in general. by the numeral l2 is shaped to litover the under plate, the ends 13 of the plate being made of slightlyincreased thickness and adapted to engage the notches 11 formed in theends of the lower plate sections.v

The upper and lower plates are both cast from gold or other suitablemetal by means of molds Jformed from wax impressions taken from themouth of ar patient in the well known manner whereby the plates may bemade to contorni exactly to the gum and teeth and to each other.

The upper plate`12 is arranged to receive one'or more false teeth 14 ofa size and shape adapted to replace the yextracted teeth, said teethbeing set and vulcanized in the well known manner, vthe vulcanizedrubber entirely covering the upper surface of the plate and being shapedand colored as closely possible to the natural size and color of thegum,

In applying' my improved dental bridge, the lower plate is placed inposition between the teeth by lirst inserting the section 6 in normalposition against the adj acenttooth 3 so that the shaped end of thesection will fit into the curvature at the base of the tooth. The othersection 4 is then inserted into position, the extension 7 first beinginserted into the recess 10 and the section then pressed down from. theposition shown in full lines to the normal position shown in dottedlines in Fig. 4.0i1 the drawings. A suiiicient sliding movement isailorded the bar 8 .within the recess 10 to permit the section to. bemoved downwardly past. the side ofthe tooth and then movedlongitudinally to lfit under andy around the curvature of the tooth 2.The bar 8 is arranged to be moved against shouldered'lugs 16 toaccurately align the sections and to limit the longitudinal movement fora purpose hereinafter more fully described. Thedownward'movement of thesection is limited by an extension 17 which (fo-operates with thehshouldered. lugs 1.6.. to:

Y lower plate section as shown in full' lines andthe plate then moveddownwardly to the position shown in dotted lines. The length of theupper plate is made .such that when movedtothe dotted position it willbe neces sary to apply a moderate pressure to spring the end ofthe upperplate past the adjacent portion of the lower plate and into engagementwith the notch l1.

In springing'the upper plate int-o position the bar 8, is moved toy itsextreme position within the recess l0 against the shouldered lugs 16 sothat the lower' plates will be spaced apart and firmly held ininterlocled relation. At, the same time the shaped ends of the lowerplate sectionY are held'against the adjacent surfaces of the teeth 2 and3. In this manner, both' the upper andl lower plate are held firmly' in'position between the teeth 2` and 3', thel natural vcurvature oftheteeth beingadapted to prevent either transverse or' vertical movementof. the bridge.

The pressure applied Vagainst the sides of the teeth is regulated bythemovement 'of the bar 8 within the rec'esslO. If the movement of the baris not limited, the full" spring pressure imparted bythe upper platewill be directed againstV lthe sides of the' teeth. In some. cases thisvarrangement is desirab'leand the retaining bar 8 may be entirely'omitted'. However, in most cases-it is desirable to limit the pressureagainst the tooth itself and to accomplish this the bar is arrangedtoengage the lugs-16` in such a manner as to carry the greater portion ofthe pressure, only suficientpressure being appliedv to the tooth to holdth'ebri'dge firmly in position. If desired, the entire pressure may bedirected onto the bar and no pressure at all applied to the tooth, theaccurate shaping of the bridge sect-ion being sufficient to hold thebridge in position without pressure against the tooth.

When it is desired to remove the bridge for cleaning or for otherpurpose, one end of the upper plate is pried upwardly out ofengagement'and the plates are removed by a reversal of the abovedescribed method of insertion. The several parts may thus be readilyremoved and' replaced with very lit tle eifort or inconvenience.

My improved bridge is of particularvalue because ofthe fact that thebridge` is applied without any injury to the teeth 2 vand 3. In commonpractice heretofore it has been cusrIlhis plate is inserted ieeoeatomary to grind portions of the teeth away to receive mounting elementsof various kinds. In all such cases the sound tooth to which the bridgeis anchored is itself wealtened and the life of the tooth is materiallyshortened.' By my improved arrangement this injury to the tooth isentirely avoided.

I'Vhile I have illustrated and described one particular form andconstruction, the device is of course subject to modification innumerous ways, particularly with respefiftto the structure oftheinterlocking means for limiting the relative movement of the lower platesections. I therefore do not wish to restrict myself to the specificdetails of structure shown in the drawings but desirerto avail myself ofall modifications which may fall within the scope ofthe appended claims.

' Having thus described my invention what I claimA as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is, y Y

l. fh dental' bridge' comprising a lower plate formed in two sectionsadaptedV to be det-achably mounted between two teeth to span a spaceintervening therebetween due to' the extraction of one or more teeth;means formed upon adjacent ends of the sections for limiting relativelongitudinal movement between said sections; and an upper plate adaptedto be detachably engaged and retainedv by the lower plate, said'upperplate being provided with teeth secured thereon to replace the extractedteeth.

2. A dental bridge comprising a lower plate formed in two sectionsadapted to be detachably mounted between two teeth to span a spacevintervening therebetween due to the extraction of one or morerteeth,opposite ends of said sections being shaped toV conform to the shapeofthe adjacent teeth whereby the curvature of said teeth will retain thesections in position; and an upper plate adapted to be detachablyengaged and retained between the ends of the lower plate, said upperplate being provided with teeth secured thereon to replace the extractedteeth.

3. A dental bridge comprising a lower plate formed in two sectionsadapted to be detachably mounted between two teeth to span a spaceintervening therebetween due to the extraction of one or more teeth,opposite ends of said sections being shaped to conform to the shape ofthe adjacent teeth `whereby the curvature of said teeth will retain thesections in position; means formed upon adjacent ends of the sections tolimit relative longitudinal Y. movement between said sections; and anupper plate adapted to bel detachably engaged and retained between theends of the lower plate, said upper lplatel being provided with teethsecured thereon to replace the extracted teeth.

4. A dental bridge comprising 4a-lower plate formed in two sectionsadapted tobe 1N detachably mounted between two teeth to span a spaceintervening therebetween due to the extraction of one or more teeth,opposite ends of said sections being shaped to contorni to the shape ofthe adjacent teeth whereby the curvature of the teeth will retain thesections in position; means formed upon adjacent ends of the sections tosecure said sections in interlocking relation to limit relativelongitudinal movement therebetween; notches formed upon the inner sidesof the shaped ends of the sections;

and an upper plate adapted to be sprung into engagement with saidnotches to detachably secure said upper plate between the ends of thelower plate sections, said upper plate being provided with teeth securedthereon to replace the extracted teeth.

5. A dental bridge comprising a lower plate formed in two sectionsadapted to be detachably mounted between two teeth to span a spaceintervening therebetween due to the extraction of one or more teeth, op`posite ends of said sections being shaped to conform to the shape ofadjacent teeth whereby the curvature of the teeth will retain thesections in position; a locking element formed upon one of the sectionsand adapted to interlock with a corresponding recess formed in theopposite section to normally lock the sections against relativemovement; notches formed upon the inner sides of the shaped ends of thesections; and an upper plate adapted to be sprung into engagei'nent withsaid notches to detachably secure said upper plate between the ends or"the lower plate sections, said upper plate -being provided with teethsecured thereon to replace the extracted teeth.

6. A dental bridge comprising a lower plate formed in two interlockingsections adapted to be detachably mounted between two teeth to span aspace intervening therebetween due to the extraction of one or moreteeth, said sections being shaped to conform to the gum between theteeth and having opposite ends shaped to conform to the shape of theadjacent teeth .whereby the curvature of the teeth will retain thesections in position and an upper plate adapted to be sprung intoengagement with the shaped ends of the lower plate sections, said upperplate being shaped to conform to the shape of the lower plate andprovided with teeth vulcanized thereon to replace the extracted teeth.

In witness whereof I hereunto set my signature.

CARL GISSKE.

